


I Love You, Too

by nana_banana



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Canon Compliant, Confessions, During Canon, F/M, Ficlet, LadyNoir - Freeform, No Spoilers, One Shot, pre-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 14:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nana_banana/pseuds/nana_banana
Summary: After yet another Akuma battle, Chat Noir takes his chance.





	I Love You, Too

_“I love you.”_

Spoken as quietly as it was, Ladybug almost missed the declaration. The wind whipped by her, loud and strong at the top of the cathedral, buffeting against her back. It cradled those three words, vanishing them into the ether towards the setting sun. But she _had_ heard them, and her heart warmed significantly as she turned, a grin slowly falling into place.

Just a few feet from her, stood Chat Noir. Though he appeared aloof, there was a stiffness to his stance and a tightness in his face. His pinched brow, wide eyes, and straining smile spoke of a deep anxiety. He watched her, seemingly frozen as she pulled back from the edge momentarily, leaning her weight to one leg. Turning her body towards him, she spoke.

“I love you, too,” she happily said, a small laugh bubbling out of her. She waved, turning back to the edge as she readied her yoyo. Dusk was fast approaching and her earrings beeped yet another warning. She was about to launch her weapon when his shout stopped her.

“Wait!”

She paused. Her head turned towards him, smile turning curious as he shot forward, startling her. But she did not avoid his touch as he grabbed her forearm, and she allowed him to turn her with a pull. Behind her, the sun continued to sink, the oranges across the sky slowly turning to mauve.

“Do you mean that?” He breathed. His eyes were glistening strangely, the look in them cautious, almost disbelieving. Wary.

Hurt and a tinge of fear coursed its way through her. Hurt for him, and fear that Chat Noir suffered from a distinct lack of verbal affection. She frowned sympathetically, reaching out her hand to pat the one he used to hold her elbow in place, his fingers tight around her suit with unease.

“Of course I do,” she said, taking care to place the utmost seriousness into her tone. “Don't your other friends tell you they love you?”

He dropped her arm as if it burned him, his body tensing with something she could not describe, and alluded it to self-consciousness. His face turned away, and a clawed hand reached up to scratch at his temple, hiding his eyes from her.

“Right, yeah, they do,” he said, nodding, and she felt her heart unclench from the worry that had seized her at a possible negative. “Thanks, Ladybug,” he said, and she smiled even though he was not looking at her.

Her earrings beeped urgently, and she turned back to the edge.

“I gotta go, Chat,” she said, whipping out her yoyo. It caught, and she tossed back a final wave. “I'll see you later!”

She was off without another word, swinging through the streets of Paris, away from him. She did not see his expression fall, his lips tremble and thin.

Chat moved away from the edge and crouched behind the parapet, hiding himself from any potential prying eyes. He sighed heavily, reaching up and stubbornly brushing the backs of his gloved hands across his eyes, ignoring the beep that warned of the waning power in the ring. It did not matter if he detransformed in such a place as it was as empty as the hollow inside him.

“She loves me as a friend,” he said aloud, the words carried away from him by the careless wind, his transformation following with a burst of magic. But Ladybug was long gone, and his voice did not reach her this time. He sat, powerless and desolate, all too human and all the more injured for it. The small god with catlike features released from his ring floated down to rest upon his knee, unusually quiet. “I feel like such a joke.”

**Author's Note:**

> Do y'all tell your friends you love them? If not, what are you waiting for. 
> 
> Tumblr: [floreswrites](https://floreswrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Twitter: [nanadanonini](https://twitter.com/nanadanonini)


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